Starting Over
by SpeedlesChic
Summary: For Eric Delko, losing his best friend and Colleague Tim Speedle was the worst day of his life. Now he struggles to keep himself together. Meanwhile Horatio's daughter is keeping a watchful and protective eye on Detroit's newest CSI.
1. Chapter 1

Music blasted as bodies were swaying to the music. Guys were drunkenly flirting with women, and making out in every corner of Club Phallic. One man in particular, Eric Delko was toothing for the third night in a row. He was messaging a group of women. Eric decided to meet one of the girls. She sounded like she was a good time. Her screen name was, LatinaLuva.

_6PakPlaya2Nite: U wanna meet up out front of the club, and head to some place private?_

_LatinaLuva: What do u think 6Pak?_

_6PakPlaya2Nite: Is that a yes?_

_LatinaLuva: That is a yes. I'm wearing an electric blue halter top and black mini skirt. And my hair is black and wavy! C u out front! Get ready 4 the light of ur life. ;)_

_6PakPlaya2Nite: Promise? ;)_

_LatinaLuva:Promise. _

Eric met the young woman out front. At first, Eric didn't see her through the darkness. He spotted her electric blue shirt just a few feet away from him. The woman he knew only by her screen name had her back to him. Eric walked over to her and grabbed her around the waist. He started to playfully kiss her neck. Eric gently turned her around. He wanted to see her face. She had soft brown eyes, a great smile, and long dark wavy hair. "Your screen name fits you well," he said smiling at her.

"I would like to say the same for you but… well, I can't really tell with this shirt one," she said tugging at his button up shirt.

"How about we go find out," he said kissing her on the lips this time.

"Mmm, do you have a place in mind?" she asking kissing him back as she ran her hand up and down his inner thigh.

"My place." Eric moaned

"Well let's hurry up 6PakPlaya," she said running her hand over the front of his pants. "I don't know how much longer I can wait."

Eric let out another moan. "As you wish, LatinaLuva." He took her by the hand and lead her to his black GMC Yukon. "Need a ride?"

She smirked seductively. "Always."

Eric opened the passenger side door for his new lady friend. She hopped in, but first stole one last kiss.

* * *

The next morning, Eric walked onto the first crime scene of the day with his co-worker and good friend, Calleigh Duquesne. The supervising officer, Officer Ramirez asked to see their badges. Calleigh flashed hers and ducked under the tape. Eric went to grab his badge and ID from his pocket, but quickly realized they were gone. "Shit," he said out loud.

Ramirez looked at Eric and said, "I can't let you cross the tape unless you have your identification."

"Come one Ramirez. You know who I am," Eric pleaded.

"Delko, no badge no crime scene."

"Ramirez, just let him under the tape. He's not going to do anything to jeopardize the crime scene. You know that," Calleigh said shielding he eyes from the Miami sun. "I'll supervise him. If anyone asks tell them I take the blame."

Ramirez looked from Calleigh to Eric, and decided to let him go. "Fine."

Calleigh waited until they were out of earshot of everyone on scene before she spoke. "Eric, where's your badge and ID?" she asked concerned.

"I don't know Calleigh. I had it last night when I left work," he said.

"Well, what did you do after work? Retrace your steps. Did you drop it in your driveway this morning before you left?" Eric looked down at the floor and didn't say anything. He didn't want to tell Calleigh what happened last night. He was embarrassed about it. "Eric!"

"I'd rather not talk about it. Let's just say I was at a club," Eric said with his head still down.

"Okay, what club were you at?"

"I'd rather not talk about that either." If Calleigh knew which club he was at last night she would be disgusted with him. Club Phallic was known for wild hookups public hookups and adult film shoots. In other words, nothing good ever came out of going to that night club.

"Eric, what were you doing last night? If you don't tell me I can't help you." Calleigh looked behind Eric to see their boss, Lt. Horatio Caine arrive on-scene with their Medical Examiner, Dr. Alexx Woods. "It looks like Horatio and Alexx are here. We'll continue this later, but for now go find your badge and ID. I'll tell Horatio something came up and you had to leave."

Eric breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Calleigh."

"Thank me when you find them. Now go!"

Calleigh made her way over to Horatio. "Good morning, Horatio," she said with a smile. Alexx was already looking over the dead body.

"Good morning. I see Eric had something to take care of?" Horatio said taking his sunglasses off.

"Yeah. He said he'll be back as soon as possible," Calleigh said not making eye contact. She knew Horatio could see right through her.

"Eric lost his badge and ID didn't he?" he asked walking over the dead body. "Ramirez told me."

Calleigh sighed. "Yeah. He did. I'm starting to get worried about him. He's been forgetful and just not himself lately. If only Tim were here. It's not getting any easier Horatio. I think that's why Eric has been acting the way he's been."

"Losing someone so close is never easy, Calleigh, but we'll get through it even if we have to go hour by hour."

* * *

Eric pulled up to his condo at shut the hummer off. He leaned back in his chair and sighed. What was he doing? He was hooking up with random girls just because he's having a hard time dealing with the death of his best friend. Speed certainly wouldn't approve. He needed to stop this. "Dammit! What is wrong with me?" Eric said slamming his hand on the steering wheel. He opened the hummer door and got out. He slammed it shut and headed into his condo.

Eric headed straight to his bedroom. That was the last place he remembered having his badge and ID. He opened every drawer in his bedside tables, dresser, and closet. It was nowhere to be found. "Come on! I know it's here. I had it last night when I got home," he said out loud. He decided to check under his bed next. It wasn't there.

As he was standing up he felt two slender hands wrap around his waist then he heard a familiar voice say, "Hey baby. Did you come back for more? Last night was amazing."

He whirled around and shrugged her off. "What are you still doing here?" he growled.

"Whoa, chill out. Guess I didn't do a very good job of relieving your stress last night. How about you just sit down and lay back. I'll turn that frown upside down," the woman Eric knew as LatinaLuva said as she started rubbing her hand up and down his thigh.

Eric pulled away again. "Stop it! You need to leave."

A confused look appeared on the girls face. "What? I thought we had a good time last night. You said I could stay here as long as I wanted."

"Yeah, but things have changed. I need you to leave, please. We're done. I'm not doing this anymore," Eric said searching the pockets of his pants from last night. He breathed a sigh of relief when he felt something square in his back pocket. He pulled it out and there it was, his ID. Now all he needed was his badge.

"Listen, I found this picture in your drawer. The guy's pretty hot. Maybe you could ask him to come over, and we could… you know."

Eric's head shot up. He looked at the photo the young woman was holding. It was a picture of Speed. Calleigh had captured it when they all had a night out on the town. "Give me that. What hell were you doing going through my things?" he spat grabbing the photo from her hands.

The young woman was starting to get agitated. "What is wrong with you? Last night you were fun and care free, now you're being a straight up ass hole. And what is with this photo? It's just a photo of your friend."

"It's not just a photo. Now get out! I don't ever want to see you again," he yelled.

"Fine. Have a nice life jerk!" The young lady grabbed her jacket and purse and left his condo.

Eric looked at the photo of Speed. Tears started forming in his eyes. "Speed help me." He set the photo on his bedside table and continued looking for his badge. He soon found it tangled up in his sheets. He grabbed it and headed back to the crimes scene.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a cold wintery night in the city of Detroit, Michigan. A light dusting of snow covered the Riverside Park parking lot. Unfortunately, for Detroit Homicide Detective Lauren Caine there was more on the way. Detroit was forecasted to receive eight to ten inches of snow by sunrise.

"Hey Stevens, what do we have here?" Detective Lauren Caine asked as she and her partner, Detective Ryan Spears arrived on their first crime scene of the night.

Ryan and Lauren have been friends since their high school days. Ryan was like the older brother she wished she had. The two of them have been there for each other through thick and thin, and being a couple years older than Lauren, Ryan was always looking out for her.

"Female prostitute. Our witness over there said he was starting to shovel the snow away when he saw our victim floating in the Detroit River. Thinking she might still be alive he pulled her out, but it was too late. By the looks of it she might've died a day ago, but I'm not a medical examiner," said the first responding officer, Charlie Stevens.

"So there's probably going to be some cross-contamination on the victim then," Ryan Spears said looking the body over and then at the witness sitting on one of the park benches.

"More than likely. Medical Examiner is on her way along with the crime scene unit," Lauren said putting her hands in her pockets to shield them from the cold.

"She had no ID on her from what I could see. If you guys need anything else let me know. I'm going to see if I can get any more information out our witness," Stevens said heading back to his patrol car.

Lauren crouched down next to the victim. She was wearing a black leather mini skirt and bright pink skin tight halter top. It was hard to see in the dark but it looked like there may have been some blunt force trauma to the head. "What do you think, Ryan? Could our Jane Doe here be a part of these prostitute murders that have been happening this week?"

Ryan sighed. You could see breath release from his mouth on this cold night. "Possibly, but my question is, how did the witness know she was a prostitute?"

Lauren stood up and raised an eyebrow. "Maybe he just figured she was one by the way she's dressed. Maybe he was supposed to meet up with her tonight or last night. I'm not buying the whole 'I was here just shoveling story.' Not many families will come to the park in the winter. It's too cold. Let's hope CSI can get something for us."

Ryan smiled. "Let's hope so. Speaking of CSI, what's with you and that Jason Seaton dude? You've been spending a lot of time with him from the moment he came here almost a year ago. I know you two were going out on dates for a while."

Lauren started laughing. "You're real funny, Ryan."

"I'm being serious, Lauren. We've known each other since high school. The last time I saw you this happy was when your father came up here for our college graduation. Plus, I thought we made a pact to tell each other everything. You've been very secretive ever since he showed up."

Lauren's father, Horatio Caine didn't live in Michigan with her and her mother, Sarah Caine. He lived in Miami, where he was head of the Miami-Dade Crime Lab. When Lauren was thirteen years old her parents divorced, and her mother took her to her home state of Michigan. Lauren tried to fight it, but it was no use. Sarah never approved of Horatio's job as a police officer. She claimed he was never home, and that his job was his life instead of her and their daughter. They have stayed civil for Lauren's sake.

She looked at her best friend and smiled. "Jason and I are… well, we're together as a couple now. We have been for six months. Please don't be mad at me. I have my reasons," Lauren said rubbing her hands together to try and keep them warm.

The snow was starting to come down harder. If CSI and the medical examiner didn't arrive soon they might not get any evidence from the scene. "I'm going to put this trap over our Jane Doe. Maybe it'll help save some evidence and also give this girl some privacy," she said pulling a bag wrapped in plastic out from under her jacket.

"That's probably a good idea. Then I think some congratulations are in order even if it's six months later," Ryan said with a small smirk. "How come you haven't told me though? What are your reasons?"

Lauren sighed. "Listen, Ryan I want to tell you I really do, but I just can't right now. And can we not talk about this right now? We have a case to work."

Ryan's smile faded. It wasn't like Lauren to be this secretive. Every time she was with Jason a black unmarked care would show up. Something was going on with Detroit's newest CSI and he was going to find out, but for now he would respect Lauren's wishes. She was right they needed to focus on the case at hand.

Lauren and Ryan walked up to the edge of the water in silence. Ryan headed to the left. Lauren headed to the right. They couldn't wait any longer for the crime scene unit to arrive. They risked losing even more evidence.

They met back a few minutes later. Ryan hadn't found anything, but Lauren did. "Found this in the water. It's the girl's purse. Found her ID in here. Her name is Tamika Canon," she said holding up a small black clutch purse. "Pretty sure any evidence that was on her is gone."

Ryan sighed. "At least we have a name."

The crime scene unit and medical examiner finally arrived. Lauren and Ryan started heading back to the body. Lauren stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Jason. He wasn't supposed to be out in the field. When he was brought up here he was strictly going to be a lab tech. "Speed, what are you doing here," Lauren said just below a whisper so Ryan wouldn't hear her.

But what Lauren didn't know was he did hear her. "Speed? What is speed? Or who is Speed?" Ryan asked himself. That was another thing he's heard Lauren say numerous times, especially when Jason was around.


	3. Chapter 3

Lauren slammed her desk phone back into its docking station. A week had passed since Tamkia Canon's murder. During that time two more escorts were murdered. Every lead that came in turned cold. It didn't help that her boss, Lt. Dan Carey was riding her and Ryan. He was a hard man to please, and no one liked working for him.

"Whoa there, Caine! Dial it down," Ryan said. "You break it then we're down a phone. You know how tight the budget is right now." She just gave him a look and went back to looking at the case file. "Just got some info on our most recent victim."

Lauren lifted her head up and said, "Please tell me it's good news."

"The mother said that she had been hanging out with some knew guy a while back. She said her daughter ended up pregnant. This guy apparently didn't like it, and the mother said he threatened to kill her several times," Ryan explained.

Lauren sat back in her chair and thought a moment. "The medical examiner didn't mention anything about her being pregnant though. I wonder if our two other victims met with this guy or had a relationship with him."

"I wouldn't doubt it. Maybe they've all had encounters with him. Maybe she already had an abortion. Her mother never mentioned her giving birth."

"Did you get a name?"

"I'm working on it. The mother couldn't remember his name. She said she was going to get back with me. She's going to go through her daughter's things in the morning."

"At least it's something. Did any of our other results come back yet?" she said.

"Nope. They're still working on it. Our night shift is a little short staffed tonight. Thankfully your boy is a wizard in the lab. It's almost like he's worked in this field for a while. Did he?"

Lauren sat back in her chair and looked up at Ryan. She was about to answer him when she heard someone walk up behind her. She turned around. It was Jason. He had several manila folders in his hand with the Detroit Police Department logo on them. They were the results. Jason sat down on the corner of Lauren's desk and handed her the results.

Jason Seaton was more than who he said he really was. His real name was Timothy James Speedle, but everyone who knew him called him, Speed. Speed was originally from New York, but moved down to Miami after college where he worked under the supervision of Horatio Caine and Megan Donner. His co-workers became like his family. He quickly became one of Horatio's top crime scene investigators and his second in command.

Speed had been apart of a high profile drug case that involved one of the South's biggest and most dangerous gang. They were a known as Los Cráneos. He was unable to bring down all the members of the group putting him and everyone who was close to him in danger. Speed was forced to disappear. In order to do that it was decided he'd fake his death. Only Horatio, Lauren and the FBI undercover unit knew about it.

The only way Horatio agreed to go this route was because of his daughter. His conditions were that Speed be moved to Michigan where he knew Lauren would keep him safe and that he be able to work close with her. His trust in the FBI was what you would say, peachy keen. They had disagreed on almost everything.

Lauren took the folders. She opened them up one by one searching for anything useful. At first, most of the results were just conformation the DNA belonged to their victim, and most of the trace evidence came back and plain old soil. Then Lauren opened the last folder. Jackpot. The CSI team had found fingerprints on the scene that were different from our victim's.

"The fingerprints were found on the victim's handbag as well as the victim's upper thighs," Speed said as he turned to the next page. "After I ran them I also was given a white powdery substance. It came back to something I hadn't recognized. I couldn't find it in any database or book. I'm guessing your guy is working on something new. If you look at the ingredients though, the substance does contain methamphetamines," Speed explained.

"Finally something to go on. Anything else?" Lauren said with a hint of excitement. It was about time they caught a break.

"Yes. Those fingerprints gave me a couple names." He said flipping to the last page in the file folder.

"Well look at that! My buddy Corey Burts, but I have no idea who this Darrel Anderson guy is," Ryan said looking closely at the two photos. Ryan had worked the Narco department when he first started in the police force, before transferring to Homicide two years ago.

"You know Corey?" Lauren asked looking up at her partner.

"You could say that. We have a long history. Met he when I worked Narco. He's been in a out of jail for possession," Ryan said smirking.

"Let me guess, for methamphetamines?" Speed asked.

"You got it, Seaton! Looks like we need to do a littler research on this Darrel Anderson dude."

Looking over at Speed, Lauren said, "You didn't find anything on him?"

The only thing on the sheet was his name and lurid looking black and white headshot. The photo had barely any distinguishing details. It could've been worse. They could've ended up with nothing.

Ryan decided to take the lead on Corey Burts while Lauren decided to do some more digging on Darrel Anderson. Even though the photo didn't give her much to go on, she felt this man was somehow involved in these murders. He could quite possibly be their number one suspect.

With Ryan gone, Lauren turned to Speed and placed a hand on his knee. He was still sitting on the corner of her desk. It was then she noticed how stressed, tired, and wore out he looked. "You okay?"

Speed closed his eyes and half laughed. He said, "Am I okay? Isn't that's the million dollar question?"

Lauren frowned. She knew the stress wasn't from being short staffed. He could handle that. The stress of being away from his family and friends, and the stress from keep up this fake life were taking its toll. It had been almost a year since everyone thought he had died.

"Hang in there, babe. I know this is hard, and I can't imagine what you're going through," Lauren said as she felt an emotional knot develop in her throat.

"I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. They follow me around everywhere I go. I have to lie to people. You have to lie to people. I'm starting to feel like I'd almost rather be d-"

Lauren stopped him before he could say the word, dead. She lowered her voice to a whisper and said, "You listen to me and you listen to me right now Timothy James Speedle. Don't you ever say you'd rather be dead. You will have your life back, I promise you. I will make it my mission to take down these people."

Speed sighed, stood up, and hugged her tight. "I love you and I'm sorry I said that. Lauren, this isn't something you should get involved in. These people are dangerous. Let the FBI do their jobs, please."

"Babe, I'm already involved. You're miserable, and-"

It was Speed's turn to stop her mid-sentence. "Lauren, stop. As much as I hate this it's for the best. They're all safe because of this. I won't have to worry about them coming after my family, the people I worked with, and you father."

Lauren sighed and hugged him again. For now she would listen to him, but she made a promise to herself that she would give Speed his life back. He deserved it. She would find out who and where these people were and take them down.


End file.
